Official Off-Topic Thread

[chriskot]

university soon, suddenly the world seems to be changing a lot and i wonder where im gonna end up, hopefully starting to push more pixels here and there....

Yeah, same.

I've really gotta get used to the local public transit system over the next few days. I've only ever taken a city bus twice before, and soon I'll have to take them twice every day (since I'm commuting to Uni from home). Plus, my Thursday schedule seems uncomfortable. Two hours of chemistry. Break for lunch. Then six straight hours of maths and sciences.

Oh well. I'm sure it'll be fun when I get over those two things. Or at least interesting.

[Rosse]

Sorry about the bad sparta joke helm, didn't want to insult you 


About comics. It's very interesting how my perception of comics changed in the last, not very long, time. When I grow up (in Switzerland, born 1986), all comics I knew were Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. I had never seen a Marvel or DC comic (I got the feeling that muslemans were taboo) or something serious or hilarous as (sometimes) your comics I read lately. To be honest, I didn't even know of the existence of such, or even more embarrassing, superheroes as X-men, Spiderman. All I knew were Superman and Batman, but just because of the movies and not the comics (or books? do not even know today  ). This stuff slightly changed when I got the internet and try to find out how to get a artist. And even today I never read such a comic. Sometimes I read (mostly) cheap short comics on the internet or newspaper, but that's it. My first deep fascination about comics come from Winsor McCay (not even a year ago!). I bought a book where all his "little nemo in slumberland" and "in the land of wonderful dreams" comics are. Later I choosed a course about comics in my 1-year school-of-art (Maybe I post the result in the art-off-topic-thread). That's nearly everything I can tell about my comic experience.
Now reading your comics is pretty inspiring and refreshing (particularly the later ones). Such things give a special feeling deep in my self and I have no Idea what that means or where this will lead to. But I will continue reading your comics and your explanations with huge interests.

[Helm]

Don't worry, I am not easily offended. You'd have to work at it and you'd have to mean it, can't really happen by accident 

The situation you describe with Disney comics and then nothing - no superheroes - are something of the norm in most European countries. There is a stigma associated with superheroes in almost all societies were progressive or liberal (and largely anti-American at the time for obvious reasons) movements have had a enduring effect in the culture. The concept of the superhero is a crass one, a supercharged and overshallowed 'American dream' where sexual repression and other psychological illnesses urge hyperbolic muscles to hide themselves behind tights of bright colors and then suffer each other on issue after issue after issue... really, for all the good people like Moore have done in the medium, it is degenerate and artistically dubious at best. Any nation which has been geopolitically repressed by the world bully that the US has been masquerading as for the last 50 years would find it natural to try to repress the cultural dregs of the American society like superhero funnybooks from entering and saturating the local culture.

You're not missing out on never having read the X-men, when you've read Winsor McCay. Amazing artist of a gentler time, he pushed the medium every which way before his contemporaries even got their bearings on what this 'comic' thing can do. I also got Nemo in Slumberland 2 years ago or so and I flip through it once in a while. I like how he apparently got bored with doing simple comics so he started messing with the medium. And messing and messing and messing until he came out the other side. Every story he did has a point, it's never just empty 'look what I can do'. I admire that endlessly.

I do suggest you post your comics in the OTCreativity, I'd be happy to read them.

Your comments about my older work warm my heart, although I am very ashamed to see it mentioned in the same breath as with the likes of McCay. This doesn't change that I am very glad to have affected you positively in any way, though.

[Doppleganger]

Helm, where did you find Nemo in Slumberland? The notion of owning that has slipped my mind for quite some time, but I've always been very interested in that comic and have only seen snippets from old newspapers online here and there. I know it's a pretty old comic, does that make it relatively rare and expensive?

[Rosse]

Little nemo's adventures aren't a sole comic. It's always a one-page story (always ends in waking up) which appeared weekly in sunday-issues from various newspapers from 1905 to 1914. Getting a original one is pretty unlikely. But there's a book called Winsor McCay, "Little Nemo, 1905-1914". In that one there are all comics which were published in that time period (weekly). It's pretty massive (around 430pages). I have the german edition but this one should be the same (english). Definitely a must buy!

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Nemo-1905-1914-Winsor-McCay/dp/3822863009/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220370504&sr=8-2

[Helm]

Yes that's what I have, only in english.

[Dusty]

So I downloaded Google Chrome's beta release today.

A lot of features I love, a few things I don't like. Severe lack of options and customization... though it's still beta. I hope they fix that.

Sadly, it seems to use the same bilinear filtering FireFox3 uses on zoomed images

[.TakaM]

Have you guys seen the comic introduction to Google Chrome by Scott McCloud?
Pretty neat.

I get the feeling Chrome will be my browser of choice once it's finished and lots of customization can be done.


On an unrelated note, I got my drivers license today, no idea why I've been putting it off for so long.

edit-

If your itching to get your hands on Megaman 9, then this should hold you over for a little.

Japanese fanboys have recreated SNES Rockman 7 completely in 8-bit form. The graphics, music, and engine are all almost perfect rendition of the NES Rockman games. This a freeware PC game for Windows. Remember this game is in Japanese, but there is only a tiny bit of dialog anyway. It shouldn't bother anyone.




Megaman/Rockman is one of my favorite series (Obviously only the platform genre ones), its awesome to see this game in old school style. Honestly, I like this one a bit better than the original SNES. The 8-Bit graphics just have some kind of charm to them.

Download Here

Remember guys, Megaman 9 is to be released this month. Show your support!

[Atnas]

Chrome is really fast.

[Twinspiration]

Chrome is pretty speedy, but watch out for Google's EULA!

Initially, by installing Chrome, the user pretty much gave Google permission to use anything that the user posted anywhere.

Google then said "Oops!" and things may be okay now?

In addition to that,

Chrome's "Omnibar" can also access all keystrokes a user types, and Google will store some of this information along with IP addresses.

Having a browser do this is kind of creepy any way you look at it.